Ling
USA
This review may contain spoilers
A Love Story That Isn't for Everyone
I have been wanting to watch this movie since I first watched the trailer and had "No Regrets" by Li Rong Hao on repeat for over a month. I knew this was a movie that would make me cry. I don't think this movie is for everyone, when it's a love story that isn't for everyone; especially people that doesn't like very flawed characters and that not all love will have a happy ending.Zhou Xiao Qi is our male lead that is super rash and emotional throughout the movie, while You Yong Ci (our female lead) was a girl that wanted to simply feel loved and safe in a relationship due to her past family issues. I honestly felt like female lead's character was not fleshed out well compared to the male lead's character, but I think the main focus of the story was on Zhou Xiao Qi. They are both very flawed characters though. The moment Zhou Xiao Qi did the stupid thing that ruined his future, I knew their relationship would fail no matter what. There would always be regrets for him, and then for Yong Ci will forever feel guilty for it. No matter how much they loved each other, it would just not work out.
I think the message that the movie wants to tell us is that just because you love each other, doesn't mean you have to end up together. It gave a realistic view on how when you are young, rash and emotional; you make stupid mistakes and say stupid things that can make or break a relationship. But it's important to look back and cherish the love you had for each other in the past. We should view it as a happy memory; it's better to have loved and been loved, then to not have loved and not been loved Also, it's important to live with the decisions you made and to not have regrets. Keep looking forward, learn from your mistakes and try to become a better person.
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It wasn't until towards 20+ episodes that I noticed how everything was dragging on. I also started disliking Yun Ge as a character. Meng Jue, Ling Gege & Xu Jiejie were the only characters that was worth watching to be honest.
I must give credit for how beautiful and visually stunning the setting, props and costumes were. The OST can get repetitive throughout the drama, but it got really addictive to listen to after awhile. I really wish the story was better and the ending left me with a lot of questions and frustrations. Overall, it was an okay drama, but I don't think I would recommend anyone to watch this to save them the pain and frustrations they will have to endure from watching this.
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Like a Celebrity Olympics Show
With 2020 not having regular Olympics ongoing, this came at a perfect time!The first four episodes were fun and you get to see the different celebrities from different part of the entertainment industry interacting (like idols, actors, models, rappers, dancers, MC, talk show hosts, etc.) And you got to see the celebrities trying to challenge last year winners, too. It helps to know a good bit of the celebrities beforehand, but you kind of get to discover more celebrities with these type of variety shows.
When the actual 3 day long competition rounds started, it got less fun, because it was more serious and it became a professional sports competition with announcers. The episodes were so long, too. Each of those 3 days were about 10 hours long. Each day it was jam packed with different kind of competition going on. I got so bored that I had to start skipping around, because it was just a lot of talking and random awkward interviews. I was really impressed by the celebrities that were all competing though!
Overall, it wasn't bad, but I will definitely NOT rewatch the last 3 episodes; due to length and it wasn't as entertaining.
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This review may contain spoilers
I'm usually not a big fan of Taiwanese dramas, because the main female lead is usually very cutesy and a bit annoying; BUT this drama had a really good female lead character. Sure, Mi Na was head over heel for a guy in college, but usually first love you are like that; and it's hard for you to forget about them. Ten years later, Mi Na still remembers the good times in college, but at least she is successful in her career. The only fault I find in her character was that I wish she gave the second male lead a chance. They had such good chemistry! And he was always there for her. If you want something that is light-hearted, but with a more realistic kind of outcome, then I think you should check this drama out. Majority of the characters are pretty likable.
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This review may contain spoilers
I rarely write reviews, but this variety show I followed every single week for a total of 10 weeks. I didn't think I would be so emotionally invested in this show. I started off being interested in this, because I saw that Dilraba Dilmurat will be the presenter. Then I saw the preview trailer for it with showcasing the four trainers and their backstory. I should have known this would have been an emotional ride, because the backstory of Alec Su and Aaron Kwok were pretty touching (and cause I watched dramas and listened to their songs when I was super young).I really enjoyed each episode every week, but I cried a lot, because it's a competitive show... so there's trainees that gets eliminated every other week. I didn't really have a lot of the trainees that I was into from the beginning, but after each week seeing their friendship/bromance and seeing them cry; it really touched my heart. Also, seeing the interaction of the trainees and trainers, you could tell they care about each other, especially Alec Su caring for his Class F. You can tell all the trainees put in a lot of effort and training for their performances. The music produced out from this show was really good and already have them in my Youtube playlist.
There was a lot of drama behind the scene with one of the Class A student, too. He left the show towards the end, and there's rumors that he was forced to leave, because he was too high ranked. There's also rumors about people buying votes and then the broadcast company faking the vote numbers. Variety shows like this are usually rumored to have fixed results. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true.
Anyways, basically I only like 5 members out of the 11 that succeeded in debuting in the group, R1SE. Many of the members that I grew attached to did not get to debut despite them making it to the finals. I will say good luck to R1SE, and I will see if I will keep up with them or not. I hope the ones that didn't get to debut through this show, they will have a chance to debut soon and that they don't give up their dreams!
Overall, it was a touching and emotional ride for me. :(
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The Cruel Reality of Showbiz...
This drama showed you the dark and realistic side of entertainment industry. How easily you can gain power & fame, yet also how easily you can lose them. We follow Mo Xiang Wan (starring Qin Lan) as a showbiz manager and how she seems so cruel & cold, but in reality, she really isn't as strong as she seems to everyone. Watching Mo Xiang Wan's character growth was a rewarding journey. I didn't think she was as heartless as they made her seem like in the beginning, it was just that people didn't see her warm and humane side. You get a close look of the celebrities she managed, too. Even though I found Lin Xiang super whiny and spoiled, I honestly felt for her in the end. I didn't find any dull moment in this drama to be honest. I was worried after reading the spoiler comments down below. Yes, things were more intense in the first 20 episodes, but the rest was still very interesting for me.I was surprised on how much I loved the drama. I was interested in this drama for Qin Lan & Godfrey Gao. It took courage for me to start watching this, because I didn't know if I had the courage to watch this without crying when seeing Godfrey's face. It took a couple of episode, but I mean I was still crying a good bit, cause the many things that were happening in the drama. They both delivered their characters really well. But I was also really impressed by a lot of the other actors and actresses. I was the most surprised by Wang Zi Yi's character, Xu Ling, and how well he emoted with his eyes.
I love the OST. Added them all to my playlist and have been listening it on loop. If you read the lyrics of each song, they perfectly fit the drama as a whole.
It's been so long since I have watched a modern Chinese drama and loved it this much. You could tell the production quality was top notch. Highly recommend this if you don't mind getting out of that dream bubble to see the cruel reality of the entertainment industry.
P.S. That last shot of the last episode was.... just heartbreaking for me though. I cried (though I cried plenty throughout the drama.) Watch it and you will know why.
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This review may contain spoilers
This show is far from perfect, but the chemistry between the main leads were great. I literally watched like first quarter of the drama two times, because I watched by myself and then rewatched with friends. The story was a little repetitive, because you get the main leads going through difficult times with their career, then it gets resolved and rinse & repeat kind of deal. But I think they did it for a reason, because it wanted to give us a message to never give up on your dreams and to keep moving forward when there's difficulties in life. Then you got the back and forth between the main couple and second couple, the moms were super annoying & overbearing, and the business stuff was so boringgggg.
But I must admit the acting was good, and I liked how the ending made me feel along with the moments I loved. And I like how they didn't force everyone to be coupled with someone. I don't regret watching this drama at all, but I really wish it wasn't this long, because most of it was focusing on the business aspect and shifting focus to second couple.
Overall, I gave it a slightly higher rating than my normal standard, because I'm able to overlook all the annoying stuff & it's really for how much I enjoyed the chemistry between the main leads. Also, I didn't watch the show in 1.5x speed or skip scenes.
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